Stan - Analysis

STAN - EMINEM

Relationship between visuals and lyrics 
The relationship between visuals and lyrics have a direct connection. The character of Stan is miming the lyrics, the lyrics that Stan sings are the words that he is writing to Eminem and how Eminem has read his letters. Half way through the song it changes to Eminem in a his tour bus and he is rapping the words of his replies to his fans. The lyrics are connected with Eminem rapping along to them in the setting of the video.
Genre characteristics
The genre of the video is 'horrocore'; a mix of hip-hop and based on a  horror theme, hardcore rap. We can denote this form the music video through the dark lighting and the semantic field of the lightening and thunder and rain throughout he windows of the house. The setting below in the still image is a medium shot of Stan's 'work' area in the basement. We can see in the window that it's raining and the scene is poorly lit with one light in the corner and no natural light.

Intertextuality 

The wider reference in the music video is Eminem's fan mail and the scene in which he surrounds himself. Stan is about multiple fans and their fan mail that Eminem has received over the years. It is a dark story about how many fans are getting too obsessed with him and that they can  go too far.

Narrative

There is a non-linear narrative in Stan. From the beginning there is the progress of how Stan becomes overly obsessed about Eminem and how he is becoming more like Stan. It goes from Stan changing his hair in the mirror to bleach blonde like Eminem's hair at the time. 

The next progressive scene that enabled the audience to connote what was  happening was when Stan was looking in the full length mirror and not seeing himself but seeing Eminem, he already connects himself with Eminem on another level. It is a behind the shoulder shot of Stan and we can see the reflection of Eminem, which is from the perspective of Stan as a character. There are also images of Eminem in the corner of the mirror, connoting that there is more of Eminem in Stan than Stan himself. Stan is slowly loosing his own personality.

The  non-linear narrative continues to which him and his wife are asleep in their bed and she decides to adventure into his shrine to Eminem in the basement. Here she finds the picture of Eminem taped over her in a picture of the them. She is horrified and then he comes down and is angry, connoting that she isn't allowed in  the basement, the shrine is for him and Eminem to bond.

This shot is from her perspective we are seeing what she is seeing. The shot then changes to a lower shot and we can see her reaction to the image; meanwhile we see Stan coming behind her and we know that something bad is about to happen because Stan isn't mentally stable. 

We then see Stan driving in the car and he is shouting into a recorder but still speaking to Stan, as the audience we can connote  that this is a heated situation and Stan is loosing control of the car, which could represent him loosing control of his thoughts and the obsessing over Eminem and not getting anything back has driven him to insanity. 

As the audience we again see an over the shoulder shot of the view that Stan can see, all he can see is the reflection of himself and Eminem still hanging down looking at him. The windscreen is blurred with rain representing that Stan's vision is blurred and that he can't see what is happening right in front of him. During this we hear his pregnant girlfriend in the car screaming, we are unaware of where she is. However by the final scene of the car going of the bridge the audience can connote that she has been forced int he back of the car and both have now died.
The shots then move to Eminem after the car had run off the bridge, he is reading all of Stands letters and replying to them. We also get cutaways of Eminem throughout the music video of receiving Stan's letters and replying, showing that it takes time and energy. The purpose of the music video is to show Eminem's fans that he isn't ignoring them, it just takes time. Because there is flashbacks and cutaways of Eminem whilst Stan is writing the letters this means that the music video doesn't have a linear narrative but it has a non linear narrative due to the fact we are unaware id Eminem is receiving the letters during of after Stan has driven off the bridge. By the end Eminem says how he heard about a guy to drove off a bridge with his pregnant wife in the car; then Eminem realises that it was Stan who the article was about. Showing that Eminem was trading and writing these letters too late.

The final scene that we see is Eminem being an actor, playing himself in his tour bus, we then see stan in the window as the lightening strikes. The pothook fallacy of the scenes throughout is important. the weather plays a role of the mood of the video being dark and a tense situation.
Mode of address 
There isn't a direct mode of address through the video due to the fact that Eminem and Stan are actors and they are playing a role. Eminem is playing himself however he is playing the life of a famous singer and how replying to fans takes time. We know that he is acting because this video is based on several stories that Eminem has been involved in with fans not just just one.
When Eminem get dragged away by the bouncers and shows that he attempted to see Stan and Stan's nephew Eminem is portraying the life of a famous musician is difficult and that fans have to be patient with him.
 There are references to the character of Stan looking in the mirror which helps the audience connect with him through the eye contact. Initially we see Stan look in the mirror after dying his hair from the perspective of the mirror, Then we see Stan with an over the shoulder shot looking in the mirror, this gives the audience a stronger more powerful look at Stan. There is a sense of direct connection between Stan and Eminem through Stan's point of view. When Stan looks in the full mirror and doesn't see his reflection but sees Eminem thats when as the the audience we can connote his is loosing the sense of real life and the aspirational lifestyle; that is being with Eminem as one.
Star treatment 
We see Eminem on posters surrounding Stan's desk and surrounding him initially. This is connoting that because his face is on posters that he is famous and that people know him and are willing to pay money to have his face on their wall. He has fans. Whereas when showing Eminem the video portrays him as trying to connect with he fans but getting dragged away,which can make the audience feel sorry for Eminem trying to meet fans but it isn't his choice. We also see cut aways if Eminem sitting at a mid shot in his tour bus on his own. Connoting that he feel lonely and has no one around him even though he has fans begging to meet him he feels alone. The video is portraying that even though Eminem is famous and Stan wasn't they lyrics and the, music video are connecting them on a another level. they are more similar even thought they live different lifestyles.
Audience in the video
there are representations of the audience in the music video 'Stan'. Stan and his nephew are in a crowd of girls repressing that girls are Eminems target audience. By being surrounded by girls Stan stands out in the crowd. The video shows that Eminem wants physical contact with his fans however he gets dragged back and isn't allowed to meet them even though they were 'waiting out side in the blistering cold'.

We also denote that Eminem and Stan have met before at a book opening, but Eminem doesn't remember because he says 'make me not wanna meet you' whilst there is a flashback of Eminem hugging Stan at a book opening. the image is blurred connoting that it is a flashback of the two of them meeting with Stan's nephew.

Representations 
The visuals of the video are mainly focused around Stan who is seemly in his 20's. However the lyrics of the song are about Eminem and the stories of his fans and how it effects him in the big picutre. We denote a man who looks up to Eminem and his lyrics, Stan has an understanding with Eminem and what he has been through. As the audience we can connote this through the lyrics (that Eminem is singing but Stan is lip syncing), 'my dad was just like yours' and 'people like us'. The audience can already within the first few minutes connote that Stan is loosing himself to Eminem and becoming too involved.
Male gaze
Throughout the video there is minimal views of the woman in the story, however we understand that Stan is married and he is verbally abusive relationship. This is a typical convention of a dark music video, with the man being in power. He ends up putting her in the boot of the car and driving off the brindge denoting that he had the power in the relationship even though he had little self contorl over his own thoughts and ations. Stand wife wasn't shown in a sexual way, she was wearing baggy clothing and was pregnant suggesting that their relatioship didn't have much substance or happienss to it. Both Stan and his wife were unappy and unloving towards eachother. Stan was more in love with the idea of Eminem than his wife and baby.
Pace
Throughout the video there is the beat in which Eminem is rapping and the pace is faster anf the shots usually last around 10 seconds, thi is medium pace for a music video. However the beat changes when the 'wife' beings to mime the singing part of the song. Here the shots are longer and slower, letting the audience take a break form the fast pace tense scenes of the rapping. The audience connotes from the slower pace that it brings back to the reality that the music video is a sad dark song. Because of the different pace in the rapping and then the singing it shows a variation in the pace and the different sides to the story. Each time the woman voice enters the pace slows down and we generally see a woman figure in the shot, whether it's Stans wife or his sister with his nephew at his grave after they have driven off the bridge. This helps the audience connote that it is a woman singer and it brings it all together in the reality of the situation.
Shot variety
In the first scene there is an over the shoulder shot of Stan looking at himslef in the mirror and smiling when he has bleached his hair to look more like Eminem. This helps the audience get a sense of his reaction to what he has just done. He is happy witht eh result. The shot then pans down a floor in the house, this is breaking the 180 degree rule in that the camera is going in-between floors. We then see a wide shot of Stan going into his shrine of Eminem and there are panning shots of his desk surrounded by posters of Eminem and letters all over his desk. There is then a short depth of field shot of a letter with Stan (blurred) in the background walking towards the desk. The letter was addressed to Eminem. The short depth of field enables the audience to denote the letter and that Stan is continuously writing letters to Eminem. So far the video has been a linear narrative, However there is then a cut away shot of Emiem in his tour bus recieving fan mail, suggesting that Stan's letters are in there. It then goes back to Stan, therefore making the video a non linear music video; due to the editing of the cutaways and the flashbacks of Stan and Eminem meeting, at his concerts and when Eminem is reading and writing back to Stan. However we know by the end that this is after Stan had driven off the bridge.
 There is a lot of mid shots throughout the video, when filming Eminem; this allows the audience to see Emimens facial expressions but not get too close, this could be a representation of how his fans feel. Close enough to see him but not close enough to know what is really going on. This wasn't enough for Stan and he wanted to get even closer. There are fade in and outs between each camera angle change when filming Stan, this gives the effect that time is passing quickly and that everything is fast pace even though his thoughts may be slow like the lyrics.
Each time the woman begins to sing there is a flashback to before Stan is writing all the letters. The flashbacks ahppen in chronological order. Therefore the audience are able to connote waht led up to Stan loosing sense of reality. There is a lot of variation in the number of different shots.
Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene stays the same throughout the whole linear video; however in the flashbacks although the mise-en-scene is silmilar it isn't as powerful and overwhemling. For example in Stan's house there is thunder and lightening throughout the first scene, and then when there is a cutout scene with Eminem in the tour bus it is still raining and dark outside suggesting that Eminem is reading and replying to Stans letters the same night that he looses the plot. Where as in the flashbacks of waiting in the cold and at Eminem's concert the lighting is slightly blurred to signify and make it clear that it is a falshback for Stan and possibly Eminem. However in the basement where the shrine is, there is one light in which is lighting up the whole room (which is by his desk). This suggests the most imporatnt part of the room and the house is this corner in which all the Eminem posters and where he writes all his letters.
The lightening also lightens up the side of his face on the occasion giving the shadow to the otherside of his face, denoting a slight creepiness and tense situation. It is naturally lit apart from the small oil light in the corner symbolising the fact that Stan may not have a lot of money. The light is lighting up Eminem rather that Stan. Showing a stronger focus on Eminem himslef rather than Stan. Which again represents how Eminems life is more important and valuable to Stan that his own.
Notable shots
There were many notable shots involved in the video. The shots in which Stan is looking in the mirror and the reflection in Eminem is clever in which it signifies and connotes to the audience clearly that Stan is loosing his personality and values Eminem more than his own life and his wife and child. I also noticed the shot in which Stan appears in the window of Eminems tourbus as the lightening strikes at the end, connoting that he will haunt Eminem for a long time and Eminem won't forget about Stan and his story.